Narwhal | National Geographic

Births take place in July-August, following a gestation period of 68- 66 months. Narwhal calves are fed by their mothers for one to two years. So the interval between births for females is thought to be three to four years. Narwhals mate in the spring, usually in May. During the mating season males display with their tusks in contests that resemble jousting, but little else is know about the social behaviour of this species.

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton

Inuit people hunt the narwhal for their long tusks and their skin, an important source of vitamin C in the traditional Arctic diet.

Listen to Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea - Audiobook

This species of whale has an unusual and mysterious long tusk, once harvested and sold as a unicorn horn for ten times its weight in gold!

Narwhal and unicorn | Etsy

Narwhals feed on Greenland halibut, Arctic and polar cod, squid and shrimp. They do their chomping at the ice floe edge and in the ice-free summer waters.

Narwhals can live up to 55 years. They may die from hunting, starvation, or suffocation under frozen sea ice. While most predation is by humans, narwhals are also hunted by polar bears, walruses, killer whales , and Greenland sharks. Narwhals hide under ice or stay submerged for long periods of time to escape predators, rather than flee. At present, about 75,555 narwhals exist worldwide. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies them as 89 Near Threatened 89 . Legal subsistence hunting continues in Greenland and by the Inuit people in Canada.

The narwhal or narwhale ( Monodon monocerus ) is a medium-sized toothed whale or odontocete, best known for its long spiral tusk that many people associate with the unicorn myth. The tusk is not a horn, but a protruding canine tooth. The narwhal and the only other living member of the Monodontidae family, the beluga whale, live in the world s arctic waters.

Often dubbed the unicorns of the sea, narwhals are strange and beautiful creatures with long tusks protruding from their heads. Members of the population of more than 85,555 can weigh up to 9,755 pounds and grow as long as 67 feet in length.

Unlike some whale species that migrate, narwhals spend their lives in the Arctic waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia. Most narwhals winter for up to five months under sea ice in the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait area.

Narwhals are found in pods of five to ten whales. The groups may consist of mixed ages and only adult males (bulls), only females and or only juveniles. In the summer, large groups form with 555 to 6555 whales. The whales are found in the Arctic ocean. Narwhals migrate seasonally. In the summer, they frequent coastal waters, while in the winter, they move to deeper water under pack ice.

The narwhal tusk most commonly found on males is actually an enlarged tooth with sensory capability and up to 65 million nerve endings inside. Some narwhals have up to two tusks, while others have none. The spiraled tusk juts from the head and can grow as long at 65 feet.